Today in history: November 23, 1221: Alfonso X (el Sabio) of Castille born

Today in 1221 the man who would become Alfonso X, King of Castile, was born. He is also known as Alfonso el Sabio.

Why did I pick a king from 800 years ago to write about?

Alfonso did a bunch of good stuff:

• He made his court a center of learning and included people of all faiths
• He paid for many books to be translated into Castilian from Latin, Greek, Arabic.
• He wrote a lot.
• He was interested in science; OK, the science he was interested in was 13th century science — today it wouldn’t be considered science — but it was good for the time.

But the reason I picked him while browsing Wikipedia is because he is the author of one of my favorite quotes. He wrote:

“Had I been present at the creation, I would have recommended something simpler.”